3 nabbed for widespread Gozi computer virus

Associated Press

Advertisement

NEW YORK — Authorities say the inventor of a computer virus that infiltrated a million computers worldwide and opened the door for the theft of at least $50 million has pleaded guilty to federal charges in New York.

A federal prosecutor told a news conference Wednesday that Nikita Kuzmin entered the plea to computer intrusion and fraud charges in May 2011.

The prosecutor, Preet Bharara, says the Russian man created the Gozi virus in 2005 that was used to gain access to NASA computers last summer.

He says Kuzman’s plea was followed by the arrest in November of a co-conspirator in Latvia and another in Romania last month. Extradition proceedings are underway against both.

Authorities say the virus was used to infect at least 40,000 computers in the United States.